27 Facts About Eddy Raven

Active from 1962 to 2018, Raven has recorded for several record labels, including ABC, Dimension, Elektra, RCA, Universal, and Capitol Records.

Eddy Raven has a total of eighteen top-ten hits on that chart.

Eddy Raven is the oldest of ten children, and his father worked as a truck driver.

Eddy Raven later went to work for a radio station in Georgia when his family moved there, and in 1962 he self-released the single "Once a Fool".

Eddy Raven began recording for ABC Records in 1974 after Acuff-Rose songwriter and producer Don Gant became head of artists and repertoire for that label.

Eddy Raven's first charted single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, his own composition "The Last of the Sunshine Cowboys", came in 1974 on ABC.

Eddy Raven charted seven more singles for the label between then and 1975, the most successful being "Good News, Bad News", which achieved a peak of number 27 there.

Eddy Raven left ABC in 1976 when Gant departed the label.

Eddy Raven signed with Monument Records in 1978 and two singles for them: "You're a Dancer" was a minor entry on Hot Country Songs, but "Colinda" did not chart and Monument closed its country division soon afterward.

Ray Pennington produced the album, with assistance from Don Gant's brother Ronnie Gant on three tracks, and Eddy Raven wrote or co-wrote every song on it.

At the time of the album's release, Eddy Raven said that many of his songs were inspired by situations that he had encountered while touring.

Once his contract ended, Eddy Raven chose to undergo a brief recording hiatus in order to determine the viability of his career.

Eddy Raven moved to RCA Records Nashville in 1984 at the end of his self-imposed hiatus.

Eddy Raven produced the album with Paul Worley, who was then known mainly as a session guitarist but would become increasingly known as a producer throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Nash wrote in Stereo Review that the album seemed to focus more on Eddy Raven's singing over his songwriting, noting that the album had more of a country pop sound than its predecessors.

The final single from The Best of Eddy Raven was "'Til You Cry", which peaked at number four.

All of these were produced by session keyboardist and record producer Barry Beckett, who had contacted Eddy Raven and expressed interest in producing for him.

Eddy Raven's initial release for the label was a cover of Shakin' Stevens' "In a Letter to You", written by Dennis Linde.

Eddy Raven said of the album's sound that he wanted to add influences of Latin and Caribbean music to his sound, noting in particular the inclusion of steel drums and comparing "Zydeco Lady" to the sound of Miami Sound Machine.

At the time, Eddy Raven felt that the songs' failures were due to a preconception that artists of his age were not seen as suitable for mainstream country radio, combined with concerns over political correctness.

One of the songs on the album, "Coldest Fire", was a song that Eddy Raven had begun writing in 1987 at the encouragement of Gant, but found himself unable to finish for a long period following Gant's death that same year.

Eddy Raven has continued to perform throughout the 21st century, including multiple appearances on the Grand Ole Opry.

Eddy Raven co-wrote two songs on Toby Keith's 2011 album Clancy's Tavern, and made a cameo appearance at one of Keith's concerts in July 2017.

In 2018, Eddy Raven released a bluegrass album called All Grassed Up, which features a mix of new songs and re-recordings of existing material, with accompaniment from the bluegrass band Carolina Road.

Eddy Raven had written and recorded the song while still on ABC, but the label chose not to release it at the time due to executives considering it unsuitable as a single.

Eddy Raven later said that the success of The Oak Ridge Boys cut was a factor in his choosing to resume his career after his contract with Elektra ended.

Eddy Raven's family lived in the Maurice area, and he graduated from Maurice High School.